Pokey Bolton - Thoughts on Crafting A Life
Home
About
  • Home
  • About
Pokey Bolton - Thoughts on Crafting A Life
Craft Napa, Indigo Dyeing

Indigo Dye Experiments & Dye Kit Giveaway!

Ah summer…to me this season means lots of time dyeing and printing fabrics outdoors, and this summer I’m trying my hand (for the very first time) at indigo dyeing. As someone who loves surface design and fabric printing, I don’t know why I haven’t played with this process before as it is extremely gratifying, fun, and easy!

And you don’t need the summer heat to indigo dye, you can do it in winter, of course, too. The picture below was taken this past January at Craft Napa in the outdoor courtyard of the Embassy Suites/Napa. We quite literally took over the entire hotel, drying fabrics indoors and out. Below are some images of fabrics drying everywhere at the hotel from Sandra Johnson’s Craft Napa Indigo & Shibori workshop.

We draped the bushes too…

And all of the outdoor furniture. (All were unharmed afterwards, I promise.)

 

This kit (below) is what was used for indigo dyeing, which I recently bought too so I could give a go at this process. It is a dye kit by Jacquard that we got from Dharma Trading, and it’s so cheap (only $9)! This kit includes all of the ingredients, conveniently measured so all you have to do is pour everything provided in the kit (wearing your protective gloves and gear) into a five-gallon bucket of warm water. This mix can dye up to $15 yards of fabric, too! There is a lot of value packed into this tiny box, and when covered when not dyeing, can last for days:

 

This is what it looks like when all of the ingredients are poured into a five-gallon bucket of warm water. The top of the dye vat has a bit of a film on it–it looks a little strange but it’s normal. And when you fold the fabric and clamp it (as shown below), everything emerges as green; it’s the oxidation process that turns the fabric blue.

Below are some first samples of mine drying in the sun:

They get bluer as they dry:

Below was a very simple, accordion and triangular folding process I used, but it yields such amazing, graphic results! (And note to dyers: if you are going to indigo dye, set aside a special dye bucket for this. I had used this same bucket for Procion-dyeing and evidently had leftover pink dye in it…hence the pink spot on the lower right side.)

I also bought a blank cold-shoulder t-shirt from Dharma Trading and tried my hand at what is called kumo (basically wrapping an object with rubber bands to resist-dye). I just used rocks from my gravel driveway for this experiment:

And then I also tried some screen printing of imagery on top to get more layered effects:

 

 

This is just the beginning of indigo work for me, and I cannot wait to really explore this process, and also try traditional stitched, shibori techniques.

A couple of Youtube videos for this process that I found helpful:

 

Sandra Johnson will be teaching not one but two Shibori classes at Craft Napa this next January, and you can find more information here! She still has a few spots left in both workshops.

I am also really pleased that Dharma Trading (in neighboring San Rafael) is joining the sponsorship team at Craft Napa by providing product for teachers and doing live dyeing and fabric printing demonstrations during all of Craft Napa next January!

Indigo Kit Giveaway!

To celebrate the love of indigo dyeing, I am giving away an Indigo Dye Kit (as shown above). Here’s how to play: Answer the following question (in the comments section for this post), and I will randomly select a winner this next Tuesday (July 17th). This is a global opportunity; everyone (within the U.S. and beyond) is invited to participate. On Tuesday, I will update this entry with the winner’s name. Good luck!

Question:

What have you learned lately (or maybe revisiting) that is fueling your creativity at the moment?

Happy Creating!

~Pokey

UPDATE: Congratulations to Sherri Cox–you are the winner of the Indigo Dye kit! Please email me at info@craftingalifellc.com and I will ship it out to you directly! 

July 13, 2018by Pokey Bolton
FacebookTwitterPinterestGoogle +Stumbleupon

About Me

pokey-art-barn

Welcome. I’m Pokey Bolton, founder of Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors magazines, and Founding Host of Quilting Arts TV on PBS. With my experience in publishing, media, events, and craft adventures (by land and sea), I fairly recently founded Crafting a Life, LLC...

...read more

Save

Save

Save

Save

Subscribe to this Blog

Enter your email address to subscribe and get email notifications when we post something new!

Recent Posts

  • February Swag Bag Giveaway!
  • Craft Napa 2019 Recap
  • My Top 3 for 2018 and Happy New Year!
  • Let’s Make Art! Stay PAWsitive Pt 2
  • Knitting and Stitching Show & a Question For You

Recent Comments

  • Master MLS on Craft Napa 2019 Recap
  • camgirl tube on My Top 3 for 2018 and Happy New Year!
  • Lynne Copes on February Swag Bag Giveaway!
  • cindylee monroe on February Swag Bag Giveaway!
  • Linda Mullaney on February Swag Bag Giveaway!

Archives

  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • July 2018
  • February 2018
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • June 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • September 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012

Categories

  • Art Barn
  • Charity and Fundraising
  • Craft Napa
  • Crafting A Life
  • Indigo Dyeing
  • Pet Projects
  • Playful Fabric Printing
  • Pokey Bolton
  • Publishing
  • Q & A
  • Quilt Retreat
  • Quilt Studio Pets
  • Quilt Tutorial
  • Uncategorized

“I am Pokey Bolton, founder of Crafting a Life, LLC, Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors magazines, and Founding Host of Quilting Arts TV on PBS. Welcome to my thoughts on Crafting a Life.”

© 2017 copyright Pokey Bolton All Rights Reserved